Sheet-metal toy construction



I June 17, 1930. H. L. KRAEFT 1,764,732

SHEET METAL TOY CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 1'7, 1929 duct/"4,5

Patented June 17, 1930 UNITED STATES HERMAN L, xannr'r, or CLEVELAND, OHIQ, ASSIGNOR T0 M RRAY 0111c FAGT R NG COMPANY, or cLEvnLAND, OHIO, ACORBORATION or, 01110 SHEET-METAL TOY cons'rrmc'rroiv Application filed October 17, 1929. Serial no. 400,251. i i

, The primary object of thislinvention is to provide a propeller and motor arrangement for atoy aircraft which will be simple in construction, formed of substantially a minimum number of parts, capable of beingeasily and-quickly assemblech'and which arrangement will be unusually strong, considering the size of the toy and character of material used. V

A specific object is to provide a motor simulating device for a toy, which device may be made in one piece yet fairly closely represent or produce the optical effect of a full sized mechanism. i

Further objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description relating to theaccompanying drawings, The essential characteristics are summarized in the claim 1 In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view ofa toy airplane incorporating my invention; Fig.2 isa longitudinal central cross sectional view of the forward portion of the airplane; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the motor simulating part; Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the line H on Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a rear end elevation of the propeller; Figs. 6 and 8 are fragmentary side elevations of the forward portions of; toy airplane or like bodies showing modified arrangements of motor simulating parts, and Figs. 7 and Qare cross sectional views indicated by corresponding lineson Figs. 6 and 8 respectively. a

The structure and arrangement of parts in this application is substantially. in accordance with the showing of application Serial No. 284,389, filed July 21, 1928,.of which this application is a continuation in part. i 7

Referring in detail to the drawings, the fuselage 1 of theairplane may compriseside members 5,-preferably sheet metal, and a top closure 6 of similar material joined to the side members as by spot or line welding. The fuselage may of course comprlse a single sheet of pressed metal, insofar as the present inventlon is concerned, and may be of any desired shape. The side members 5 may be strengthened at their lower edges by inturned flanges 5. At the front of the body,

the side members 5 are brought together into overlying relat1onship,as shown at 5'.--in Flg.

These overlapping portions 5 may be joined by suitable rivets 7 passing through the overlapping portions (see Fig. 2, ).-,;A suitable wing structure is shown at 8, and;

tail structure at 9.

The landing gear preferably. includes a suitably braced under frame 10 suitably 'se-' cured tothe fuselage on its under side and which carries asuitable axle 11 for a pair of.

supporting Wheels 11.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 to l, the motor simulating device comprises a circular: piece of sheet metal having .a central body 12, radi-1 ally projecting extensions 13 and rearwardsly turned, preferably circulaigportions 14 integral with the extensions 13. V j

1 If desired for closer simulation motor, the extensions 13 maybe rounder; in substantial conformity to themarginal edges of thecylinder head forming partslt, as i1- lustrated in the perspective view. Any suit' able means may be provided to hold the motor simulating device on .the fusela-ge,but

preferably'screws or rivets, the latter beingl shown, extend throughregistering openings in-the motor body part 12 and; the overlying portions 5 of the sidemembers 5. i y

c The propeller isdesignated; generally at and is supported on a suitable shaft 16 which engages a'fairly close fitting opening in the member 12, as a bearing support but passes loosely through openings in the members 5" 1 into theinterior of the fuselage. The enlarged' openings in the members 575, ermit some variationin the ass'embly,.since the openings for the shaft in the members 5.may

. beconsiderably out of registrationwithout;

draggingion the shaft and preventing free turning thereof. As shown, there is abracket 17 supporting the end'of the. shaft whichterminates within the fuselage and this bracket 17 is secured totherunning gearframe 10' as by. rivets 18. Suitable means tofdrive the shaft from the landing gear axle 11 may com prise an'elastic beltr20 extending over pulley forming members22 and 23 onthe axle 11 and shaft 16 respectively.

Endwise forward movement of the shaft or ra -aa- 16 is prevented by reason of a suitable washer 25 which may be held in place by upset lugs 26 on the shaft 16, the lugs being behind the Washer and the washer engaging the bracket. 17. v

The preferred construction of the propeller comprises a blade stamping 3O centrally per forated to receive the shaft, and a cup-shaped nose member 31 also formed in one piece and suitably fastened'tothe blade as by spot welding. The blade an'd'nose member 31 provide spaced supporting contact of the propeller with the shaft, as may be best appreciated from Fig. 4. Here the blade'lies close to the motor simulating part at 31 and the nose member extends forwardlyalong the shaft in spaced relation to'the blade, thereby'lending considerable rigidity to the propeller. If desired,- the propeller may be soldered to the shaft to prevent relative turning between the propeller and shaft. Usually press fits between the shaft and the openings in the nose member and blade are sufficient to prevent such relative turning. To align the shaft receiving openings in the propeller strip and nose member, as Well as to form attaching means between these propeller parts, the rear parts of the nose member are flangedoutwardly as at 36 to overlie and be secured to the blade strip 30 while at 37 there are flanges which extend alongside the blade strip, straddling the latter to space the blade strip from the adjacent front surface of the motor body portion 12. The outer end of the shaft 16 carries a U-shap'ed swivel clip 38 suitably formed to permit the attachment of a string, such as 35, for drawing the toy along the floor. v

. If desired, the'essential characteristics of the-motor simulating stamping may be retained in forming V or other types of motors. For example, in Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown motor simulating arrangements in which there are only two cylinders-and a body portion for each single stamping. In these figures, the side members 5 and top member 6' are shown as integral and the top member has a transverse slot as at 40 for receiving the flat body portions 41 of the motor simulating stampings. These body portions may have lugs 42 which enter slots in the flange formation 5 of the body sides, which lugs may be bent'over to. underlie the flange formations as a securing means. The cylinder simulating parts of the stamping are, as shown, substantially similar to. the illustrated embodimerits of the radial type motor, there being elongated extensions 45 and rearwardly turned cylinder head simulating portions 46. If desired, the elongated cylinder simulating extension portions 45 may be curved to underlie all the lower edgesof the head portions 46. As shown, the curved parts of the portions 45'extend only part way around.

Figs. '8 and 9 illustrate a further modificathe essential lines of a motor as it would be seen from the outside of an aircraft, are carrled out with a slngle stamping, the number and arrangement of cylinders being largely a matter of selection.

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided a propeller and motor construction and propeller driving device which is extremely simple, easy to manufacture and assemble. The motor simulating device is a very simple one piece stamping; likewise the propeller blade is a simple one piece stamping. The motor simulating device may be secured in place by fastening members which comprise part of the body or fuselage assembly, thus obviating the necessity for special attaching means. The. propeller driving arrangement is simple and compact, easily assembled into the finished toy and results in a very eifective propeller drive which will operate to turn the propeller whenever the toy is drawn over the floor.

It will be understood that the motor simulating device and propeller may be used in toys differing greatly in character; for example, this construction lends itself equally well to dirigible balloon types of toys and may be adapted for use in toy motor boats. It will be further understood that the size of the toy is, in general, immaterial, the parts withoutsubstantial modification being adaptable for use in connection with vehicles of the child propelled type, which are of course, ma-

signature.

' HERMAN L. KRAEFT. 

